Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Back when I was in college, I first learned about “Stewardship.”  Church stopped being “them” and started being “us”.  Here’s how it happened:

The Campus Ministry of my college lost its priest.  The Diocese was slow to appoint a new one.  In the meantime--a meantime that lasted a year--”we” (the Catholic students) had to “do it all”.  Did we want to celebrate Mass on weekends?  We had to organize it, plan it, provide bread and wine and music, and find a priest.  Did we want to gather at the Newman House for prayer or study or for a meal together?  We had to keep the place open, secure it at night, clean it, keep it in repair and pay the bills.

There was no “them” out “there” who would “take care of it for us.”  We had to support all this with our time, talent and treasure.  No one would somehow magically make it happen for us.

We were stewards of the life of our campus community.  I was practicing Stewardship and didn’t know it.  And, it was among the most exciting, rewarding times of my life.

And so it is today.  No one “out there” makes Church happen for us.  We make it happen.

Each of us is given many gifts in this life.  We are called to be good stewards of our God-given gifts.  We make use of our time, out talent and our treasure to create a Christian community and to be on mission in our world, and it is among the most exciting and rewarding aspects of our lives.

During our Stewardship season, each of us and all of us have the blessed opportunity to decide what part we will take in making our church happen.  I hope each of us will take full advantage of it.